Argentina & Chile: Wine and Fjords Tour

-Australis Expeditions Cruise 3 nights including : sea transportation, all meals, open bar when on duty (without additional cost for wines, beverages, and liquors), shore excursions, and on board entertainment.

See the best of Chile and Argentina…

You’ll explore the best of these amazing countries on your 14-day tour

Explore Buenos Aires, Sanitago, Mendoza and more

Itinerary

Day 1 – Buenos Aires

Arrive in Buenos Aires, where you will be greeted and transferred by your private driver to your hotel. Free time to explore the city on your own.

Day 2 – Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires Private City tour

This morning your private guide picks you up for a complete city tour. The tour includes attractions such as the 9 de Julio Avenue, the Obelisk and Corrientes Street. The first stop will be in the Plaza de Mayo so as to visit the Cathedral and the Cabildo (Old City Hall). After that, the trip will continue towards the most traditional neighborhood of Buenos Aires, San Telmo, which is characterized by its old colonial houses and the cobblestoned streets. Then, the tour will go to La Boca Neighborhood located in the south of the city. You will stop to look around the colorful zinc houses that make up this area of Buenos Aires and that used to be the refuge and home for the first immigrants and popular artists. After that, the vehicle continues to Puerto Madero – the old port of the city that was turned into one of the most exclusive gastronomic and residential areas in Buenos Aires. The tour will go to Palermo: one of the most extended areas in the city and where it is possible to find the popular woods of Palermo with more or less 300 ha (741 acres) of gardens and artificial ponds surrounded by elegant buildings. Finally, the last point in the tour is Recoleta, which is one of the most selected neighborhoods and where, among other attractions, the Recoleta Cemetery can be found. Also, there are bars, cafes and fancy restaurants that are worth a visit. Here will be the last stop to walk to the cemetery area and its surroundings. You could have a lunch and walk around or go back to your hotel. The afternoon is free to spend your time at your leisure.

Dinner Tango – Café de los Angelitos

“Cafe de los Angelitos” is a live witness of more than one hundred years of Buenos Aires history. The mystical coffee house became a meeting point for “compadritos” (swaggerers) and “malandras” (scoundrels) towards the end of the 19th Century. With rudimentary premises and a dirt floor, the place was a scenario for the verbal duels of gaucho minstrels Gabino Ezeiza, Higuito Cazon and Jose Betinotti. Remodeled again following an ambitious architecture project, conformed by three levels, it exhibits luxury and distinction every night with 21 artists that perform this live tango show.

Day 3 – Buenos Aires

Day at leisure.

Day 4 – Ushuaia

Today you private driver takes you to the Aeroparque airport for your flight to Ushuaia (not included). On your arrival at the airport you will be transferred to your hotel by your private driver. Rest of the day at leisure.

Day 5 – Australis Expeditions Cruise

Today, you will go on a half day tour with your private guide to get to know the most southern protected natural area and the only National Park with sea shores: The Tierra del Fuego National Park. You will access to this park by taking the National Route No. 3.

Located close to the city of Ushuaia, the national park stretches 60 km (37 miles) north from the Beagle Channel along the Chilean border. Its 630 km2 (244 sq. miles) include parts of the Fagnano and Roca lakes, the second of which opens into the Lapataia Bay on the southern coast, a popular point for treks. The park has dramatic scenery, with waterfalls, forests, mountains and glaciers. The park’s topography is very wide-ranging with mountains, rivers, valleys and lakes. It is very rich in flora and fauna with a large number and an ample variety of species. After walking across lengas forests, watching beavers dams and maybe admire some wild animals and birds of this region; you will get to Lapataia bay where the National rout No.3 ends, together with this tour.

In the afternoon, private transfer to the port to embark on the Australis Expeditions Cruise.

The expedition cruise ship M/V Stella Australis takes you on an amazing journey to the “uttermost end of the earth.” The adventure cruise sails between Ushuaia (Argentina) and Punta Arenas (Chile), where you’ll discover the splendor and beauty of Patagonia’s unique wildlife and landscapes.

After a welcoming cocktail reception hosted by the captain and his crew, the ship departs for one of the most remote corners of planet Earth. During the night you traverse the Beagle Channel and cross from Argentina into Chilean territorial waters. The lights of Ushuaia disappear as you turn into the narrow Murray Channel between Navarino and Hoste islands.

Day 6 – Australis Expeditions Cruise

At dawn, Stella Australis crosses Nassau Bay and enters the remote archipelago that comprises Cape Horn National Park. Weather and sea conditions permitting, you shall go ashore on the windswept island that harbors legendary Cape Horn (Cabo de Hornos). Discovered in 1616 by a Dutch maritime expedition — and named after the town of Hoorn in West Friesland — Cape Horn is a sheer 425-meter (1,394-foot) high rocky promontory overlooking the turbulent waters of the Drake Passage. For many years it was the only navigation route between the Pacific and Atlantic, and was often referred to as the “End of the Earth.” The park was declared a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2005. The Chilean navy maintains a permanent lighthouse on the island, staffed by a lightkeeper and his family, as well as the tiny Stella Maris Chapel and modern Cape Horn Monument (currently awaiting repair after being damaged by fierce winds).

Sailing back across Nassau Bay, you anchor at fabled Wulaia Bay, one of the few places in the archipelago where the human history is just as compelling as the natural environment. Originally the site of one of the region’s largest Yámana aboriginal settlements, the bay was described by Charles Darwin and sketched by Captain FitzRoy in the 1830s during their voyages on HMS Beagle. This area is also renowned for its mesmerizing beauty and dramatic geography. After a visit to the Australis-sponsored museum in the old radio station — which is especially strong on the Yámana people and European missionaries in the area — you have a choice of three hikes (of increasing degrees of difficulty) that ascend the heavily wooded mountain behind the bay. On all of these you stroll through an enchanted Magellanic forest of lengas, coigües, canelos and ferns to reach panoramic viewpoints overlooking the bay.

Day 7 – Australis Expeditions Cruise

After nightfall you re-enter the Beagle Channel and sail westward along the southern edge of Tierra del Fuego into a watery wonderland protected within the confines of Alberto de Agostini National Park. Rounding the Brecknock Peninsula as the western extreme of Tierra del Fuego, Stella Australis is briefly exposed to the open Pacific. You then navigate a zigzag route through the Cockburn Channel, Magdalena Channel and Keats Fjord to reach scenic De Agostini Sound.Named after an Italian Salesian priest who worked among the region’s indigenous people during the first half of the 20th century, De Agostini Sound is flanked by numerous glaciers and sheer saw-toothed peaks reminiscent of Torres del Paine. The shore excursion this morning is Águila (“Eagle”) Glacier, which hovers above a placid glacial lagoon surrounded by primeval forest. After a Zodiac landing on the beach, you hike around the edge of the lagoon to a spot near the base of the frozen facade. Condors can sometimes be seen winging high above, but there is always abundant bird life around the lagoon. This landing provides the perfect opportunity to experience the beauty of Patagonia’s sub-Antarctic rainforest and to see how the power of nature has molded the spectacular landscape.

Day 8 – Santiago

After an overnight cruise through Magdalena Channel and back into the Strait of Magellan, you anchor off Magdalena Island, which lies about halfway between Tierra del Fuego and the Chilean mainland. Crowned by a distinctive lighthouse, the island used to be an essential source of supplies for navigators and explorers and is inhabited by an immense colony of Magellanic penguins. At the break of dawn, weather permitting, you go ashore and hike a path that leads through thousands of penguins to a small museum lodged inside the vintage 1902 lighthouse. Many other bird species are also found on the island. In September and April — when the penguins dwell elsewhere — this excursion is replaced by a ride aboard Zodiacs to Marta Island to observe South American sea lions. After a short cruise south along the strait, disembarkation at Punta Arenas is scheduled for around 11:30 AM.

Then private transfer to Punta Arenas airport for your flight to Santiago de Chile (not included). On your arrival, you will be transferred by your private driver to your hotel. Rest of the day at leisure.

Day 9 – Santiago

This morning, you will enjoy a Private Wine Tour Concha y Toro.

Located in the Maipo Canyon, where a superb view of the mountain range can be admired, Concha y Toro winery produces excellent wines from the noblest French vines. During this visit you will be able to taste and buy wines, including the best known brands “Casillero del Diablo” and “Don Melchor”.

Day 10 – Mendoza

Today you private driver takes you to the airport for your flight to Mendoza (not included). On your arrival at the airport you will be transferred to your hotel by your private driver. Rest of the day at leisure.

Day 11 – Mendoza

Private Valle de Uco Experience

Visit with your private guide the mountains and the beautiful views in Uco Valley. Prepare your senses to experience the aromas and flavors of these high-altitude wines. Not to mention, the visits in wineries Salentein, Atamisque and Andeluna Cellars all of which make world renowned wines from this precious land, complete the tour.

This high-end tour is designed for you to share and enjoy an excellent day of wine. You will visit some of the most important and highlighted wineries in the region. The end of this perfect tour will be a truly gourmet lunch.

Day 12 – Mendoza

Today, enjoy with your private guide a Lujan de Cuyo Experience.

Luján de Cuyo, the land of Malbec, invites you to experience this variety and other tremendous wines of the region, visiting and tasting in Internationally recognized wineries like Achaval-Ferrer, Casarena y Finca Decero.

This high end tour is designed to share and enjoy an excellent day of wines. We visit some of the most important and prominent wineries of the region. This dynamic tour will end in the perfect way with a gourmet lunch in one of the wineries.

Day 13 – Mendoza

Day at leisure.

Day 14 – Departure

Private transfer to the airport for your flight home.

Domestic flights not included.

Price/Hotels

Dates

Price Per Person From

Departs Daily

$5,400

Hotel Experience

BUENOS AIRES GRAND HOTEL: BUENOS AIRES

The Grand Hotel is the perfect destination for those who choose to visit Buenos Aires. The rich culture, history, and warmth are felt on every street corner and are surrounded by its innovative architecture.

In addition to its dedication and excellent service, the Buenos Aires Grand Hotel is located in the heart of the exclusive neighborhood of Recoleta as an imposing building, an icon in the art of hospitality.

CILENE DEL FARO SUITES & SPA: USHUAIA

Cilene del Faro Suites & Spa sits on the Beagle Channel, with the Andes Mountains behind it. The spacious suites showcase stunning sea and mountain views while the spa features a heated pool, sauna and gym and also offers luxury treatments.

The Cilene del Faro Suites & Spa is a great place from which to explore Ushuaia and its surrounds. The city centre has several places of interest. Boat trips from the Beagle Channel takes one to interesting islands and landscapes such as Bird Island, Island of Wolves and Faro Les Eclaireurs. Fun activities, such as skiing on the Cerro Castor slopes, can be arranged at the hotel.

AUSTRALIS EXPEDITIONS CRUISE

Australis Expeditions Cruise is an exploration cruise facility for guests. The cruise explores the wonders of the southernmost Patagonian channels and the main attractions of Tierra del Fuego, Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel and Cape Horn. There are various routes and itineraries available, for guests to choose from.

HOTEL ATTON LAS CONDES: SANTIAGO

Located in Nueva Las Condes Business Center, the Atton Las Condes is situated near the commercial and residential areas in Santiago. The hotel offers 212 fully furnished guest rooms with amenities including a personal desk, king or queen sized desk, free WI-FI access, cable TV, climate controlled air conditioning and heating, safe deposit box, telephone, mini bar, hair dryer and interconnected rooms available on request. Facilities and services include a restaurant, bar, meeting and events facilities, as well as airport transfers and pick up.

LARES DE CHACRAS BOUTIQUE HOTEL: MENDOZA

Mendoza is the land of wineries – of different productive scales, styles and architectural features, offering variety within wine tourism. Mendoza is renowned and appreciated for its wide sidewalks, high quality restaurants and hotels. It is also home to the Lares de Chacras Boutique Hotel.

Featured at the Lares de Chacras is a swimming pool and Jacuzzi for summer, the living room with a fireplace for chilly nights,the hotel restaurant and a spa. Leisure time can be spent going on wine tours, attending cooking demonstrations, indulging in adventure tourism with horseback riding, trekking, rafting and zip lining as well as skiing during winter.

Note: Limited Availability, some hotels may not be available. Prices are per person.